Group History

Foundation

Our Group’s origin lies in the foundation of the Scout Troop on 18 July 1916 – its first leader was William Clee, who had previously been a Scout leader in Canada. The Troop was formally registered with Scout Headquarters on 14 March 1917 and wore a blue uniform. Although khaki was more commonly used by Scouts of the time, blue was chosen in deference to some anti-World War sentiment of the time. In September 1920, we added a Cub Pack to accommodate 8 – 11-year-old members.

During the 1930s, we had sufficient leaders and youngsters to add a second Troop. The two were known as ’14th A’ and ’ 14th B’ (following protests, when the new one was registered as ’21st Walthamstow’ in error!) Similarly, for much of the 1950s, we had two Cub Packs, known as the ‘Warwick Pack’ and the ‘Douglas Pack’ – the latter named after one of our former Cub Leaders (Mary Douglas).

When Scout Headquarters introduced Beavers (ages 6 to 8) on an experimental basis, our Group added its Colony in 1984. (NB although the Beaver Section nationally dates its anniversaries from a reorganisation in 1986, ours is one of a relatively few which have an earlier official existence.

Back in 1916, our Troop had its H.Q. at the Wesleyan Methodist Church Hall, which stood in Church Hill (buildings destroyed by bombing in 1944). By 1920, we had relocated to the then Wood Street Union Church Hall in Vallentin Road. This too was only briefly our home as, in 1924, we moved again, this time to St. Mark’s old hall, 197 Shernhall Street (this stood roughly opposite the Lord Raglan Public House).

Already, we were planning for a permanent home of our own, and so, also in 1924, we established a Trust and began fundraising. Thus, after only 16 years in existence, we opened our Group H.Q. in Wood Street in December 1932, though a mortgage remained in place for several further years. In 1977, we extended the premises to include the garage/ workshop, with the help of fundraising, grants and loans from some of the Scout leaders. In addition to general maintenance, a major refurbishment of our HQ was commenced in 2015 and is an ongoing project.

The Group’s scarf (neckerchief) design is unique, we believe, and has been worn by all members for over 100 years. The Group badge was instituted in 1977 to mark our 60th Anniversary.

We have been an active part of Walthamstow community life, working with young people, for over a century. This has been achieved entirely by the voluntary efforts (both past and present) of our Leaders and section membership. Provided volunteers continue to offer their services, our future too will be bright.

Bob Howard

20/06/2018